Krobo puberty rites

24 images Created 23 Jul 2006

Every year in the spring, Krobo girls become women. In Eastern Ghana, young girls from the Krobo ethnic group undergo a series of rituals through which they leave childhood behind.

The rituals, locally called dipo, were originally reserved to teenage girls and indicated they were ready to take a husband. In recent years, human rights groups and parents alike have objected to the requirement for dipo initiates to go bare-breasted for part of the rituals. As a result, girls no older than 3-4 years of age now undergo the process - as it is arguably less shocking for a young child to walk around naked than it is for a teenage girl.